LOOKING INSIDE SPIDER-MAN INDIA

[MattBrady]

by Benjamin Ong Pang Kean

Peter Parker is no longer the amazing wall-crawler known as Spider-Man.

Well, at least not in India, the land for all seasons.

A quick geography review - India lies in Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Pakistan, China and Nepal. Comparatively, the subcontinent is slightly more than one-third the size of the United States. Its climate varies from tropical monsoon in the south to temperate in the north. India has a population of over 1 billion. In terms of language, English enjoys associate status but is the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication; Hindi is the national language and primary tongue of 30% of the people; there are 14 other official languages: Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, and Sanskrit; Hindustani is a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu spoken widely throughout northern India but is not an official language.

And now it has its own wall-crawling superhero - a move by Marvel that many see as a very savvy licensing twist by a company looking to firmly entrench its characters worldwide. Not the first time its been done (Transformers, for example, have had comics created by UK creators, differing from the US versions), the creation of an entirely new Spider-Man, rooted in Indian culture is obviously fundamentally different than a typical marketing push for a property than usually seen.

This isn't "Spider-Man's Mumbai Adventure," an Indian team writing and drawing the American version of the character, or a similar visitation of an American character to a new country - this is an all new version of Spider-Man, created by Indian creators to appeal to a completely different culture - a very large one at that.

The project was announced earlier this week by Marvel Comics and Gotham Entertainment Group. According to the press release, Spider-Man India interweaves the local customs, culture and mystery of modern India, with an eye to making Spider-Man’s mythology more relevant to this particular audience. Readers of this series will not see the familiar Peter Parker of Queens under the classic Spider-Man mask, but rather a new hero – a young Indian boy from Mumbai [the former Bombay] named Pavitr Prabhakar.

“Gotham Entertainment Group, is the South Asian publishing licensee for Marvel and DC Comics. Gotham currently publishes local editions of numerous American comics in India in English, Hindi, Bengali, Tamil and Malayalam languages,” Sharad Devarajan, President and CEO of Gotham Entertainment Group explained to Newsarama.

“Since we first started Gotham, we have always dreamed of fully integrating a western superhero character into the Indian market in this revolutionary way. It is one thing to translate existing US comics, but this project is truly what we call a ‘transcreation,’ where we actually reinvent the origin of a property like Spider-Man so that he is an Indian boy growing up in Mumbai and dealing with local problems and challenges. We have always believed that the superhero relates to a ‘universal psyche’ already firmly established in India through centuries of mythological stories depicting gods and heroes with supernatural abilities. This project is the true culmination of such a synthesis allowing us to interweave the ethnic & mythological themes of India into Spider-Man’s very origins and powers.

“Though we will remain true to the underlining mythos of Spider-Man, which is epitomized in the phrase ‘With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility,’ the character will be reinvented so his powers, problems and costume are more integrated with Indian culture. Unlike the US origin which is deeply rooted in science, the Indian version is more rooted in magic and mythology. This version of Spider-Man will gain his powers from ancient mystic in order to combat the evil threat of the Green Goblin, who will also be reinvented as a modern day Indian demon from myth.

“The project came about through a number of dialogues my colleague Suresh Seetharaman (Gotham's co-founder and COO) and I had with Marvel, discussing ways to enhance our existing publishing program of American Marvel comics. We discussed a number of ideas including having the US version of Spider-Man make a trip to India in a comic series. However, the one that really exciting us, was the concept of reinventing the property specifically for India.

“Certainly, none of this would have ever been possible without the creative vision of Marvel who has nurtured this concept with us from the very beginning and embraced the potential of the cultural integration this project represents. Marvel has continuously pushed the boundaries of comic entertainment throughout the world, often transcending the genre and taking bold risks with the medium. As a Company, we greatly admire their entrepreneurial spirit and are honored to be working with them on this groundbreaking project for India. They have truly enabled one of my longtime dreams to finally become a reality.”

Thus was born Mumbai’s (Bombay’s) first web-swinging superhero.

Indian-based Jeevan J. Kang is taking on the entire creative process including the writing, penciling, inking and coloring for the first four-part series. “Jeevan is Gotham Studios’ Studio Chief and unquestionably one of the most creative individuals I have ever had the privilege of knowing,” Devarajan said.

“An architect by training, Jeevan realized his true passion rested in creating comics and joined with us at Gotham to help build an artistic studio focused on creating indigenous original content for the Indian market. Spider-Man India will also be Jeevan's first published work. Jeevan epitomizes the very best of the artistic talents India has to offer and I have the utmost praise, respect and admiration for his amazing work ethic. I am confident he will leave a great mark on the comic world. In addition to this project our studio is also creating a number of original characters for the Indian market and we expect to release our own line of new comics in India later in the year.”

Is Spider-Man India set in the regular Marvel Universe, in the sense that there could be a possibility of a crossover between the American Spidey and the Indian version? Are the two aware of each other's existence?

“This is not at all a part of the core Marvel Universe, but rather a specific project for the Indian market that is intended to be a fun, exciting recreation of the classic hero,” Devarajan confirmed.

As mentioned earlier, the Indian version of Spider-Man, in the form of young Mumbai resident, Pavitr Prabhakar, gains his powers from ancient mystic instead of Peter Parker who got his powers from a radioactive spider. Green Goblin is also reinvented as Rakshasa, an Indian mythological demon. “The Green Goblin, will still be the Green Goblin. However, his origin, powers and new look will be reminiscent of the classical Indian demons of myth.”


The American version has/had love interests in the form of Mary Jane-Watson (now Parker), Gwen Stacy and an on-off relationship with the Black Cat. Who's the love of Pavitr's life in this incarnation?

“Mary Jane, or rather the Indian equivalent, Meera Jain, will still be a core character for our young hero,” Devarajan revealed.

The first four issues of the new comic series will be published and released by Gotham Entertainment Group in India, and are scheduled to coincide with the theatrical release of Spider-Man 2 in India. Marvel Comics will provide publishing details for the United States edition at a later date.

More than just the eyes of Spider-Man fans will be on this new incarnation of the character. If Spider-Man India works, and works well, a new door in regards to licensing will be firmly open, allowing Marvel to offer a new license for its characters, and perhaps opening the door to a world populated by different versions of its best known heroes.

[NotAnIssue]

That is some stunning art.

[Blind Assassin]

A very interesting idea. I have never heard of anything like it.

Bravo to Marvel for trying to get its characters to appeal to all people.

[Pascal]

Interesting, though I don't see it work. Spider-Man is an american icon that is known and loved internationally. For example, a german version of "Spider-Man" would fail miserable here. Maybe the Indians have a different mindset, but I doubt it. And I know that they released the american version for a long time in India, so it's not as if readers aren't familiar with the character.

[Janin]

Interesting idea ... though I wonder if Marvel wouldn't be better off inventing an Indian superhero for the Indian market. To give them something to call their own.

So ... any chances Captain America is on the way?

[Mr Wesley]

I wonder how much input the boss had; isn't Ari Avad from that part of the world?

[arcee]

While I agree with the poster that it would've been nice to see if an Indian original hero could've made it into the printed page first (before using a transplanted hero)...

...that said, this is a brilliant idea as a market opener!

At the very least it opens the door for that original Indian hero to stride through later.

Marvel, good luck with this!

[SHABBAZZ]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!


This will go over great with those people who believe that the superhero is America's own indigenous mythology. This is a stunningly bad precedent. Please, make characters universally approachable, publish work created by foreign artists/writers for a foreign market. Have American characters encounter Heroes from other lands and spin off from there, but reinventing Spiderman as an Indian hero because India is one of the most populace countries in the world?

Marvel is a bunch of whores willing to sell out at the drop of a hat.

Joe Q should be ashamed of himself. What a disgrace he has become.

[pmpknface]

This stuff is awesome!

This also isn't the 1st time Marvel has done sommething like this. Remember inthe mid 90's when they published X-Men and Spider-Man manga which was translated from the Japanese versions? That Spidey was very cool, and we never even saw the end of the story. (**HINT, HINT**)

[MattBrady]

Originally posted by SHABBAZZ
This will go over great with those people who believe that the superhero is America's own indigenous mythology.

Yup - cause that creation of Kirby and Lee's - what was it....Giglamesh was such a archetype of American culture. As was Achilles...and Jason...and Hercules....and Arthur.

And none of them have ever been translated into other versions for other cultures...

Joseph Campbell just dug himself six feet deeper from all the spinning and such.

MattB

[spider985]

good luck to them, after all, all companies no matter how big or small are "whores" since they are all there to make money any way.

I for one will lap this up if it released in the western market since I love Spidey.

[SHABBAZZ]

[QUOTE

And none of them have ever been translated into other versions for other cultures...

MattB [/b][/quote]

My bad, I thought the article said that they were actually going to 'reinvent' Spiderman as an Indian character. I didn't realize this was merely a translation of a story featuring the American Spiderman. If all they are doing is creating a new character based on the Spiderman philosophy/model than it is no different than Seagle and Schuster' adaptation of the Greek 'Hercules' into the American 'Superman'.

Oh wait, it's NOT an adaptation. It IS reinventing the character Spiderman as an Indian character. It's NOT a translation. It IS totally different than a homage to classic hero. Creating an Indian superhero in the mold of Spiderman would be a translation. What Marvel is suggesting is a wholesale transplant.

The costume is similar enough to the American version so that the movie/marketing works at no extra cost. The agenda here is brand saturation with no thought to the integrity of an (for now) American icon.

[Beyerstein]

It's like defacing a national monument

[KM]

I posted this at the Pulse too.

Guys & Gals,
You're all missing the point! And the real story!
Did you see the prices that Gotham Comics is selling these suckers for?
Daredevil:Yellow (complete) for Indian Rupees 90/-.
That's less than 2 US dollars!!!!!!!
and single issues for Rupees 15. That's like 30 cents.
Get me to India. NOW!!!!

[Hebime]

The naysayers are all acting like this is some sort of e-vile plan by Marvel to cram Spider-Man down the craws of poor unsuspecting Indian kids. I can see Joey Q and Gui Karyo twirling their handlebar mustaches and chuckling menacingly while sitting on huge piles of rupees....


This project is obviously something the Indian producer wants. The magic of Marvel was how they reached out to the readers and connected with them. I am sure many Indian kids find American comics entertaining, but do they really connect? Like we did when we were kids? More than likely not. Maybe this will give Indian readers that last piece of the comic puzzle we have had all along- a connection to a character that you can identify with.

So grow up. Spider-Man isn't tainted by this project, your beloved icon isn't tarnished in the slightest. This has a much higher chance of not sucking that Spider-man 2099 or the Clone Saga. Those of you who are bitching have forgotten 2 crucial points:
You are NOT the target audience, and the stories are not catering to you.
If you don't like it, you don't have to read it.

If the book sells well in India, the readers will have spoken and muted any bullshit whinning you are doing about this project.
And don't pretend to know what Indian readers are going to like, unless you ARE Indian and have resided in that country for a significant period of time. Anyone else is unqualified to offer an opinion on he merits of this project.

[ParisCub]

Originally posted by Beyerstein
It's like defacing a national monument

I like people who have such an open mind. It's only a comic book, you know.

[god_king]

Now, come on, guys. Can we all agree that Ultimate Spider-Man is cool?


I mean, I like the classic Marvel Spider-Man as much as the next guy, but I'm perfectly capable of also digging the re-invented and re-imagined "Ultimate" version of the character. And what is "Ultimate" Spider-Man but a new version of the character, who is the product of a different culture - that of the 21st century america - rather than that of the america of the 1960's.

This is the same principle, you know? Anyone who says the art isn't up to snuff is a liar or a fool, and the concept seems well-considered. Personally, I take this to be neither more nor less a good idea than creating a new version of the X-Men for a saturday-morning cartoon audience, or a new version of the Punisher for a movie-going audience. If you can accept that principle, then for frig's sakes, get past your cultural resistance (and all attendant 7-11 references, you racist twit), and consider this in that light.

[Citizenvain]

MattBrady,

I applaud you for removing all mention of that comment. Cheers.

[Charles RB]

Originally posted by MattBrady
“Since we first started Gotham, we have always dreamed of fully integrating a western superhero character into the Indian market in this revolutionary way.

Revolutionary? The Japanese already did it back in 1970 (and it didn't do that well).

[Burke 0011]

Love the Green Goblin demon idea and designs.....

As for the Indian Spidey costume.......

Umm.......

Wow, sorry...... can't help but laugh......
Truthfully, it looks like someone took two action figures, sawed them in half at the waist, and glued the top and bottom halves together.....

Looks like Peter Parker was caught in mid-costume change or something.....

[amazingdavidman]

I said it before and I'll say it again: This is very very interesting. I hope this gets published as some sort of GN over here--seeing how both Spider-Men differ in such vastly different surroundings would actually be a pretty interesting cultural study.

[Ray Dillon]

Yeah, this is great. I'd love to see what they develop and how different it will be from the original.

[SHABBAZZ]

Just for the record...

While I maintain my opinion that this is a horrible idea I don't want to be assumed to be in the same camp as the poster who made the 7-11 comment. That guy is a racist, horse's ass.

[Banana_Oil]

Originally posted by Janin
Interesting idea ... though I wonder if Marvel wouldn't be better off inventing an Indian superhero for the Indian market. To give them something to call their own.

So ... any chances Captain America is on the way?

Has everyone forgotten just how BAD the original Claremont/Trimpe Captain Britain was?

If it hadn't been for Alan Moore he'd be as much of a joke as Razorback....

I've been to The Other Site's board, and commenters are rushing to be The Boy Who Cried 'Cultural Imperialism'. Relax. Indians are experts at adapting outside ideas to their culture. Ever heard of cricket? Or Bollywood? Only the Indians could remake 'Silence of the Lambs' into a romantic musical.

An Indian-style Spider-Man sounds like a great idea to me.

[Citizenvain]

Originally posted by SHABBAZZ
Just for the record...

While I maintain my opinion that this is a horrible idea I don't want to be assumed to be in the same camp as the poster who made the 7-11 comment. That guy is a racist, horse's ass.

You have no reason to defend yourself. You simply stated your opinion while he decided to generalize an entire race of people and air his prejudices on the world wide web. The difference is clear.